ScanSafe’s scanners first detected the attack on 14 July 2008. Any visitors to the site in this time period could potentially have an infected computer, the company insists.

Users would be directed silently from the website to a backdoor which could potentially download Trojans, password stealers and various other types of spam, says ScanSafe CEO Eldar Tuvey: “SQL injection attacks have become the most common form of website compromise, outpacing all other types of compromise by 212 per cent."

Tuvey adds: “High-profile websites such as Nigella Lawson’s must realise that they are becoming an appealing target for these cyber criminals. The compromise of legitimate and trusted websites has contributed to a 278 per cent increase in Web-based malware for the first half of the year.”

However a spokesperson for Nigella Lawson denied that there was any risks to her site’s visitors: “There was an attempt [to infect the site], but it was not successful; there is no danger.”